They went out and fled from the tomb,
for terror and amazement had seized them;
and they said nothing to anyone,
for they were afraid.
—Mark 16.8
Our Sunday morning Alleluias won’t be enough.
We will fail to tell this mystery.
Only language honest enough to fail can speak
God’s grace.
Christ is risen, and escapes us—
escapes our words, our deeds, our lives—
and yet comes to us: our failure the sign
of God’s victory.
Before our failure Christ is risen,
beyond our failure Christ reigns supreme,
in our very failure we are saved
from capacity.
Fearless of our weakness now
we are bold to lay down our life, and falter,
hoping only for God to love magnificently
in us.
Christ is risen. Let terror and amazement
carry you. Let your words fall like petals.
Let nothing suffice to tell the unspeakable
but the light in your eyes.
—April 1, 2018